Last Name Wu First Name Wein

Last Name Wu First Name Wein Lab Section 819
INSTRUCTOR Sean Byrne COURSE: PHYS.1410L PHYSICS I LAB
FREE-FALL MOTION SIMULATION
INTRODUCTION
In this lab you will perform a simulated experiment to understand the motion of falling objects. The motion of
a falling objects played a significant role in the history of science. A body falling freely under only the
gravitational force (neglecting air resistance) will be examined and acceleration due to gravity (g) will be
determined.
THEORY
A body that is falling freely is acted upon only by the gravitational force exerted by the earth, and this force is
directed towards the center of the earth. This gravitational force is constant and the acceleration due to
gravity (g) will be constant for a freely falling body (neglecting the air resistance).
Acceleration is defined as rate of change of velocity with time. That is:
𝑎 =
𝑣−𝑣
0
𝑡
or
𝑣 = 𝑣
0
+ 𝑡
(1)
where
𝑎
= acceleration of the body,
𝑣
0
= initial velocity,
𝑣
= final velocity,
𝑡
= time interval
From equation (1), a plot of v vs. t